“I’m glad you did,” he said, offering a little smile.
Alison finally managed to get her stuffed bear out of its cardboard house. “See!” She held up her bear. “Now Snowball has a brother.”
“That’s awesome.”
“Or a boyfriend. I haven’t decided.”
“Go for the brother,” Ethan advised. “Boyfriends are more trouble than they’re worth.”
Alison smiled and rolled her eyes, then she hauled her stuffed animal over to the couch and plopped down on it. Jackson was his sister’s shadow so he followed her over with his own bear and also climbed up on the couch.
Amanda put Caleb down on the ground, helping him get his footing, then he barreled over to join his siblings at the couch. He didn’t have his own bear, so he immediately went for Jackson’s, causing Jackson to squeal, “Baby, no! That’s mine!”
“Let him have it,” ordered Alison. “He’s not going to hurt it, he just wants to see.”
Jackson gave up the bear, but then huffed and crossed his arms over his chest with a very dramatic pout.
Ethan and Amanda glanced at each other, each smiling a little uneasily. “I figured it wouldn’t make much sense to get him his own since he’s too little to help build it.”
“Nah. He has plenty of stuffed animals at home, he’ll be fine.”
“What’s this?” Alison asked loudly, talking over the baby’s rambling.
“Um… I’m not sure,” Amanda said, as Ethan turned to see.
His heart accelerated when he saw Alison holding up the hippo he had created at the sculpting class with Willow.
“Is it a toy?” she asked, poking it in the stomach.
“Sort of.”
“Is it an animal?”
Glancing back at Amanda, he said the first thing he thought of: “Are you guys thirsty or anything?”
“Yeah,” Jackson said, hopping off the couch. “I want chocolate milk!”
“Do you have a juice box?” Alison asked.
“No juice boxes this late,” Amanda stated, raising an eyebrow at Alison.
Alison merely shrugged. “It was worth a shot.”
Caleb went barreling across the floor again and slipped, falling on his stomach. He immediately burst into the loudest, fakest cry ever, and Amanda rushed over to pick him up and make sure he was okay.
Jackson greedily retrieved his stolen bear and hid it behind him on the couch.
“You’re tired,” Amanda murmured, kissing Caleb on the forehead even as he tried to burrow deeper into her shoulder.
“You wanna come say hi to me?” Ethan asked, holding his arms out to Caleb.
He had to consider for a minute, but then Caleb swung his body in Ethan’s direction and held his chubby arms out.
As soon as he had switched parents, he rested his head on Ethan’s shoulder, his little body lax. “He is tired,” Ethan agreed.
Amanda nodded while Jackson reminded them that he wanted chocolate milk. “I’ll get it,” she said, hoisting the diaper bag on her shoulder and heading into the kitchen.
It made him feel paranoid and guilty, like there would be some kind of detectable residue of the moment he had just shared with Willow lingering in that room.